North of Hopeless & South of Freezing
by Aurora Mandeville
Summary: Hiccup goes to Scotland to try & create an alliance between Berk & the Scots as part of his first duties as chief. But when he makes a wish & the witch grants it, trouble ensues. Based on the fairytale East of the Sun & West of the Moon, staring characters from Brave (Disney/Pixar), How to Train Your Dragon (Dreamworks), & the Chronicles of Prydain (Disney/Lloyd Alexander).
1. The Brown-Haired Amabassador

"Ugh, Mom!"

"Don't ugh me, Merida, you have to look nice for the ambassador. It isn't every day we get a visitor from one of the further countries. Besides, you should on the bright side, this means that there's more prospects for eligible young men."

"Well, there is that. Maybe he knows someone I might become friends with."

"Ah yes, I mean to ask him about the young women of his land as well, perhaps we may find you one just as high-spirited as you. There, done. Turn around . . . oh Merida, you look lovely." Merida grinned as she turned around in the pale green dress. It fit much more comfortably than her mother's previous attempts at dressing her in something fancy, she felt like she could actually move in it. Her mother opened her mouth to say something when a knock was heard at the door. Elinor went to open it. "Yes Maudie?"

"The ambassador is almost here, milady, he was sighted just a few minutes ago."

"Thank you, Maudie. Come on, Merida, quick!" Elinor lead the way out of the room, the three dashing to the throne room where Fergus already sat.

"Ah, there's my lovely wife, and my lovely daughter. We're all here, it looks like, except for the ambassador himself. McGuffin clan . . ." A cheer went up from the clan in response. "Clan Dingwall." The Dingwalls responded just as loudly. "And clan MacIntosh." The MacIntosh clan tried to sound louder, but they only managed to hit the same pitch as the other two.

"Alright everyone, please move to the side, the ambassador should be here any minute now, and I want this to be a warm welcome. None of your fighting now, do you hear?"

"Yes ma'am," muttered several voices. Elinor glanced at her husband.

"What? I'd only fight if they start it." She raised her eyebrow. "Oh alright, Elinor, I promise I won't start a fight." She placed her hands on her hips. Fergus groaned, "Alright, alright, I won't join in a fight that's been started either."

She smiled, "Thank you dear." Then she glanced at the three little mongrels sitting next to her, they nodded, grinned, and showed her empty hands. Then a guard came into the room, waiting until all eyes were on him and the room was completely still before speaking.

"Milords, miladies, the ambassador has arrived." He gave a quick bow of the head and moved to the side of the door. All eyes were staring at the doorway, each peeled for the arrival of the ambassador. The seconds ticked by like minutes before a brown-haired young man entered the room. Several gasps were heard as everyone noticed his garb, murmurs spread, concern over the Viking wardrobe. The ambassador merely smiled nervously as he walked towards Elinor and Fergus, Elinor rising to put him at ease.

"Welcome, ambassador, to DunBroch castle. These are our friends and allies, the McGuffin clan, the Dingwall clan, and the MacIntosh clan. I am Elinor DunBroch, this is my husband Fergus, my daughter Merida, and my three sons, Harris, Hubert, and Hamish. And you are?"

He cleared his throat, "Oh, uh, thank you, Lady Elinor, for the introductions. I am Hiccup Haddock the third, chief of Berk."

"Eh? That lousy little Viking village we've heard about from Viking raids?" Elinor shot the chief of the Dingwalls a glare, but the damage had been done. The murmurs grew louder, this was a Viking, a lone Viking standing in their midst, thinking that the two parties could talk of peace.

"Oh, so you have heard of us. Great, I don't have to talk too much about it then. That takes a load off my back. Well, then, let's get to business then, shall we? I do have to get back and take care of my people. I am the chief, after all," he chuckled nervously. The Scots glanced at each other, taking a menacingly step closer. Hiccup took a step back, taking him closer to the throne, this wasn't working too well. Elinor stepped forward and placed a hand on Hiccup's shoulder.

"Chief Hiccup has given us the benefit of the doubt by coming here alone and unarmed. Will you attack him when he has made no move to harm any of us?" The murmurs began to agree with her, but Hiccup winced and ran his fingers through his hair, he had to tell them.

"Um, actually, I didn't exactly come alone. I do have one friend with me. May I introduce him?"

"As long as it isn't one of your dragon fiends, boy chief!"

Elinor ignored the comment, "Of course, as long as he doesn't attack."

"Oh, he won't, as long as no one attacks me." Hiccup grinned before turning and whistling. "Toothless!" A black, winged mass bounded into the room, running towards Hiccup amid the surprised gasps and shouts of the Scots, only to knock him over and begin licking his face. "OK, down, buddy, down! I'm trying to make a good impression here!" he chuckled. The dragon backed down, but his excitement was evident since his tail was flapping around like a puppy's. Merida gasped when she saw his tail, then glanced at Hiccup.

"Why, you're missing a leg like Dad, and your dragon has part of a flag for a tail!"

"Merida!" Elinor berated her daughter, while the triplets raced forward for a closer look.

"That's alright, Lady Elinor, this is proof of our friendship, we rely on each other, a lot." He glanced at Toothless, the triplets were already climbing all over him, the four apparently having quite a blast playing together. Everyone gasped when Toothless took one of the boys and tossed him in the air, catching him on his back and letting the redhead slide down his back. There was an audible sigh of relief when the boy jumped up and giggled, telling the dragon that he wanted to go again while his brothers began to shove, wanting their own turn. Hiccup laughed, "Hey, guys, take turns. Like this," He lined up the boys and let Toothless continue their game. Then one of the Scots got a close-up look at Toothless.

"Why he is toothless, he got no teeth!" The relief was evident from the three clans.

"Well, for now so he doesn't hurt anybody, but he does have teeth, he's just hidden them," shrugged Hiccup as he petted Toothless. Everyone glanced at each other, a bit of worry starting to creep back in.

"Well that is good to know. So, Chief Hiccup . . ."

"Oh just call me Hiccup, please, Lady Elinor, I'm not quite used to it just yet," he grinned nervously, running his fingers through his shaggy hair again. Merida groaned, they really weren't getting anywhere with the niceties.

"So, Hiccup is it?" Hiccup glanced at the princess, nodding. "Well, what do Vikings do besides raid other lands? Well, at least Berk since your people haven't personally raided anybody," she quickly added. Elinor shot Merida a warning look, but Hiccup grinned, he was starting to feel more at ease.

"Well, at first we were busy defending ourselves from dragons and other Vikings." Murmurs spread in surprise over this news. "Yes, even us Vikings fight amongst ourselves, but ever since we've befriended the dragons and have begun living together, we've been busy learning more about the dragons and coming up with new traditions to involve them, like our games." The crowd oohed, the mention of games certainly had their interest. Elinor flashed Merida a grin, she was doing pretty well at getting Hiccup to open up so far, so she beckoned her closer.

"I'll let you handle the rest of this, sounds to me like the two of you know what to talk about," she whispered in her daughter's ear. Merida grinned and nodded, enough of the droll introductions and whatnot, time to get into the more interesting stuff and find what the two groups really have in common. They hit one already, games, time to find out what else Berk had that was interesting.

"So, what are these games like?"

"Well, we mainly have dragon races, some deal with speed, others use points, and some involve teams. It would take me a while to describe all of them, there are so many variations and others that we're trying out, but one that we definitely like to play is one that uses sheep for points. You have a cluster of thirty white sheep and one black sheep, the racers have to get up to five white sheep in their baskets before going after the black sheep. Whoever gets the black sheep wins."

"That sounds like fun, you'll have to teach us how to play."

Hiccup chuckled, "Yeah, well, our version requires dragons, maybe we can come up with a ground version."

"Or you can teach us how to become friends with dragons."

Hiccup looked at Merida, grinning, "That's possible too. However I've only brought one dragon, all the rest are still on Berk. I'd have to go back and bring some here. That is, if you don't mind me bringing a few of my friends with me to help train you with the dragons." The Scots were getting a bit worried over that one.

"Why, so you can attack us with your dragons?"

"No, if I had wanted to attack, I would have done it already." Hiccup realized too late that was the wrong thing to say.

"So you do want to attack us!"

"No! No, no, I don't want a war with you, I want to become allies. We've had to change a few things to become friends with dragons, I figured it will be same with you. We can become friends, I mean, if you want to."

"Well no Scot ever had a problem with killing a Viking, I don't see why that has to change." The clans were getting threateningly close, Toothless stopped playing with the triplets to stand by Hiccup, baring his teeth.

"Mom, what do we do? He came here, trusting us!" Merida gasped.

"My lords!" Elinor's voice echoed through the hall with sharp authority. All eyes turned to the queen as she stepped off the throne and towards Hiccup. Toothless growled at her, but Hiccup raised his hand to stop him, placing it gently on Toothless' shoulder to reassure him. Elinor stopped a few inches from Hiccup's face. "Answer me truthfully, Hiccup, do you have any intention of attacking any of the clans, even if we do not leave as allies today?"

"No, we will never attack the Scots. We have never attacked anyone else unless it was in defence of our homes." He held her eyes for several minutes before she physically relaxed and smiled.

"I believe you, Hiccup, we will listen to your terms and we will present ours, in a civil manner." She glanced at the men standing around who finally sighed and agreed. "Thank you, my lords, now, perhaps we can treat Hiccup to some Scottish fun. Let the tournament begin!" A cheer went up as the clans rushed outside, Hiccup and Toothless following with the DunBroch family.

"Um, thanks, Lady Elinor, if you hadn't stepped in . . ."

"Oh, don't mention it, we've been making some changes ourselves. Maybe you and Toothless could show us a few tricks?"

Hiccup glanced at Toothless, and the two grinned. "It will be our pleasure, milady."


	2. Mistakes

Hiccup groaned as he plopped on a bed, "Ugh, who knew Vikings and Scots are so similar." Toothless only gave a snort before curling up on the floor to go to sleep. He filled up half of the room, so when Hiccup heard a knock, he had to squeeze his way around the dragon to get to the door. "Oh, hello princess, can I help you with something?"

"Well, first of all, you can call me Merida, and secondly, considering that this is my castle, I don't think you need to help me."

"That is true, Merida, but I can help you by listening to whatever it is you have to say."

Merida grinned, "Good, because that's exactly why I'm here. Since you will be staying with us for another day, Mom was wondering if you would like a tour of the countryside. You will need a place to set up your dragon school."

"True again. Did you just come here to tell me about all this?"

Merida placed her hands on her hips, "No, silly, I came here to see if you wouldn't mind if I take you on a tour of the DunBroch land."

Hiccup laughed, "Ah, so that's what this is all about. I would be delighted to take the tour, as long as you don't mind taking a dragon."

"Now that I don't mind at all. Meet me at the stalls after breakfast tomorrow. Have a good night . . . if you can get back to your bed." Hiccup's eyes followed her glance at Toothless, snoring away on the floor.

Hiccup shrugged, "I got around him to get to the door, I can get back around him to get into bed. If there's anything I'm great at, it's being inventive. Well, good night, Merida, see you after breakfast at the stalls."

"Right, well, I'd better let you go invent another way around your dragon." As she spoke, Toothless moved around, Hiccup's first path now blocked.

He groaned, "Yeah, right, see ya." He closed the door on a chuckling Merida before turning and sighing, getting around Toothless this time was going to take some extra hard thinking. But it didn't really matter, Hiccup ended up sleeping soundly with Toothless on the floor.

The two got up bright and early the next day, making their way to the stalls after a hearty breakfast. Merida wasn't hard to find, her red curls standing out like a flame against the black horse she was brushing. Just as Hiccup got close enough to lean on the stall, three little heads popped up and growled at him.

Hiccup jumped back, "Ah! Oh, it's your three brothers, heh heh, good one." Merida and her brothers burst out laughing.

"You should have seen your face!" Merida managed to say while laughing. Hiccup grinned, then frowned when he realized someone else was laughing.

"Toothless! Quit it! Come on, you were startled too." Toothless shook his head. "What? How come?"

Merida snickered, "I think Toothless knows my brothers' antics better than you do."

"Oh, ha ha, right, we're taking them with us, aren't we?"

"Yes we are, or would you rather the sons of the three clans?" Hiccup turned his thoughts to his meeting with wee Dingwall, young McGuffin, and young MacIntosh.

"I'd rather your brothers."

Merida snickered, "That's what I thought. Well, are you ready? Mom packed us a lunch." She picked up a basket filled with food, the smell attracting Toothless closer.

"Yeah, I think so, we'd better hurry it up and get going or Toothless is going to eat our lunch!" They all laughed and quickly climbed on, the triplets situated between Hiccup and Merida. Toothless took off, showing off some of his abilities to the delight of the siblings before they lowered to a decent height for Merida to point out landmarks. They toured quite a bit from Toothless' back before descending to take a better look on foot. They stopped in the middle of a ring of stones at midday to eat lunch. Later, while Merida got her brothers to play with Toothless so she could get the remnants cleaned up, Hiccup went for a little exploration. It wasn't long before he came across a quaint little cottage hidden in the trees. Curious, he knocked on the door, and an elderly woman opened it.

"Yes, what can I do for you?"

"Oh, I was just exploring and I was wondering who lived here. If you don't mind my asking, why do you live here?"

"I'm a woodcarver, it's easier for me to get wood here than in the castle. Come on in, we don't get nice Vikings here often. Actually, we've never had any at all!" she cackled.

Hiccup chuckled as he entered the cottage, filled with bears, "Yeah, I'm the first, but hopefully not the last."

"Why do you say that?"

"Oh, I'm visiting the Scots to get an alliance together between them and us on Berk."

"And how's that coming?"

"Well, so far I think I've got the DunBrochs to agree, I just need to figure out a way to convince the other clans to agree as well."

"That shouldn't be too hard now that you've got the DunBrochs, they're the head of the clans."

"Yeah, well, it is hard. Ugh, I wish my dad were still alive, he'd know what to do. I . . . I wish I could be as big as he was sometimes just because no one really takes me seriously unless Toothless is there. Ugh, I just wish I could be a better chief like he was," he sighed.

"Hmm . . . maybe I can help a bit with that."

"What do you mean?" She didn't answer, just moved around her cottage gathering a few things and tossing each one into a large pot before taking a hair from Hiccup and adding that. She took a cup, dipped it into the pot and brought a cup of frothing liquid to him. "Uh, what is this?"

"It will make you as big as your father, once you drink it, of course."

"What? How can you do that?"

"I'm a witch! Come on, that red-haired princess figured it out immediately when we met."

"You're a witch? And Merida met you?"

"Yes to both, but the second one's a different story. Are you going to drink that or what?"

"Don't I have to pay you?"

"Nah, you're the first nice Viking I've ever met, it's for free. Though, you should know, you won't see the effects until after sundown." Hiccup paused, glancing at the liquid, he could hear his name being called. Did he really want this? Did he really want to almost become his father just so he could be a better chief? He sighed, the voices calling his name were getting louder, he would have to return to them soon. He took another look at the liquid, and drank it quickly. He almost gagged at how disgusting it was, but soon the feeling subsided, though it still left a nasty taste in his mouth.

"So, I'll change after sundown?"

"Yup. Is that the red-haired princess calling for you?"

"Uh, yeah, I've got to get going, thanks for, uh, everything."

"Oh no problem, and thank you for giving an old lady some company. Have fun!" Hiccup grinned before walking a little dizzily out the door. By the time he met up with the others, he was walking a little more steadily.

"Where have you been? We've been looking all over for you! Toothless was starting to panic when he lost your scent!"

"H-he lost my scent?" He glanced back at the way he had come, so she really was a witch. "Sorry, I was enjoying my exploring a bit much and lost track of time. This is a really nice spot, actually, I think this would be a good place for the dragon school."

"You think so? We haven't looked at the rest of the country."

"We can still do that, I might find an even better place. Are you ready to continue looking?"

Merida glanced at her brothers who grinned, "I guess so."

"Alright, come on Toothless!" The dragon bounded to his rider, licking him out of relief. "OK, Toothless, OK, calm down, I'm fine. Let's go see some more of Scotland, alright?" Toothless nodded and stayed still long enough for them to mount him before taking off. They returned to the castle just as dinner was being served. After their long day, they ate heartily, the topic being mainly about the dragon school. All of the clans seemed to be in a good mood that evening, so Hiccup was able to talk more about the alliance, until a few minutes before the sun went down. The boys had been shooed off to bed while Merida and her mother went to take care of a few things, leaving the men to their alcohol. Hiccup declined to drink more than a pint, he wanted to be as clear-headed as possible when the changes took place. After taking a few sips, the gagging feeling came back, forcing Hiccup to retire to his room early under the pretense of feeling tired. He made it to his room, right as the sun finished setting. Something came over him, his whole body seemed to shake and shiver, and his stomach moaned. That's when he noticed the changes, he was starting to get bigger and hair was sprouting all over. He heard someone come in and gasp. He turned to see who it was, Merida was standing there with her hand over her mouth.

"Oh, no, you found the witch, didn't you? Oh, this bad, it's happening all over again!"

Hiccup blinked, "What do you mean?" She glanced at him, her mouth wide open.

"Y-you can talk?"

"Of course I can, I am a human after all!" He tried to cross his arms, that's when he noticed something was off. His fingers ended in claws and his arms were covered in more hair than he had ever seen on any human.

"Not anymore, you're a bear!"


	3. Witch's Cottage

"Oh Mom, it's happened again!"

"What do you mean, Merida? What's happened again?" Merida led her mother through the door.

"Look, that's Hiccup!" Hiccup, now a brown bear, waved and grinned as best as he could with his bearish features.

"Oh no, you're going to have to get him to the cottage and see what needs to be done to reverse this."

"You know how to get back?" Elinor glanced at him, her mouth opening wide.

"Yeah, there's that too. Hiccup told me she gave him something to drink instead of something to eat. The spell's different so he can talk, but I don't know for how long." Elinor's lips closed into a determined line.

"All the more reason for you two to get back to the cottage immediately, come on." She led the way out, Hiccup following Merida as steadily as he could, still getting used to his new, big body. Elinor took them down several corridors and tight passages, ending up in the kitchen.

"But aren't we going to let Dad and the others know?"

"I will let them know, you two need to get back to the cottage and find out what you can. We'll be ready to help with anything when you get back." Merida nodded before hugging her mom and grabbing her bow and quiver.

"Thanks Mom, we'll be back as soon as we can."

Hiccup turned to Elinor, "Thanks, and, keep an eye on Toothless please, he'll be worried sick."  
Elinor smiled, "I will, I'll try to explain it to him as best as I can."

"Come on, Hiccup, let's go," said Merida as she walked out the door. Hiccup gave a Elinor a nod before bounding after Merida.

"Good luck, you two," sighed Elinor as the door shut.

Merida led Hiccup out of the castle and into the night, the forest swallowing them up as they raced towards the witch's cottage.

"So you've met the witch? And this has happened before?"

Merida sighed, "Yes, well, my mom and I were having some difficulties and I wanted her to change."

"Know how that feels," muttered Hiccup.

"So I followed some will-o-the-wisps to the witch's house . . ."  
"What are will-o-the-wisps?"

` "They're fairies that look like blue flames with children's faces. We might see one, but back to my story, I asked the witch to give me a spell that could change my mom."

"Let me guess, when you said change she thought you meant literally, and into a bear."

"Right, and I only had two days to change her back."

"Whoa, not a whole lot of time."

"Which is exactly why we need to find out tonight how to change you back. If we don't get you changed back into a human, you'll be a bear for the rest of your life. And not a talking bear, you won't be Hiccup anymore, you'll just be another bear."

Hiccup gulped, "Wow, I didn't know it would be that bad. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done it. I just, she was so nice and listened to me, I really thought that she could have helped me be more like my dad."

"What's your dad like?" Merida asked, slowing down their pace.

"Was like, he . . . he died saving me." They walked slowly in silence for a bit before Merida spoke.

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, it . . . he was about as big as your dad, perhaps a bit bigger. He was known as Stoick the Vast for a reason," he chuckled harshly. "Everyone loved him, looked up to him, knowing that he would do what was right. He put our tribe first, he could be harsh, but he had his reasons. Everyone listened to him when he talked. That's why I made my wish, I wished I could be more like him, or well, at least as big as him so that I wouldn't need Toothless to be there just so people could listen to me."

Merida sighed, "Guess you got your wish then, and you get to talk! My mom didn't get that, and I don't think Mordru did either."

"Wait, that bear your dad boasted about fighting, he used to be a human?"

Merida nodded, "My mom was saved from the spell, Mordru wasn't."

"Oh," was all Hiccup managed to say. He started to move a bit faster, he had no desire to become like Mordru, not one bit. Merida moved faster to keep up with his stride, and was soon overtaking him. They reached a hill and Merida reached the top first, disappearing from Hiccup's view for a bit.

"Look Hiccup, the ring of stones! We're almost there!" He bounded up the hill, Merida stood within the circle, beckoning to him. "Come on, quick!" He raced towards her, she was already moving to the other side of the hill. "Ah-ha, I've found it!" she exclaimed. She was bouncing by the door of the cottage when Hiccup caught up.

"Alright, let's go see what I need to do to change back into a human." Merida grinned as she opened the door and led the way in.

"What? Where is she? She was here just this morning!" exclaimed Hiccup when they entered an empty cottage.

Merida sighed as she moved further into the house, "She probably found an excuse to leave before we came back. She did it to me too, but watch." She tripped a wire that rang a bell, then a ball moved, hitting a bear toy that rolled into an axe, knocking it into a knife that cut through a string before ending up in the wall mere inches from their heads.

"That was close." Merida grinned before pointing at the pot in the middle of the room that had glowing green smoke coming out of it.

"It's her cauldron, come on." They moved forward cautiously as the witch's head appeared out of the smoke.

"Hey, that's her!"

"I know, now be quiet."

"Welcome to the Crafty Carver . . ."

"Crafty alright."

"Hiccup, be quiet!"

"I'm currently out of stock . . ."

"What? She had a full house just this afternoon!"

"Hiccup, be quiet!" Merida closed the bear's mouth.

" . . . want bear frames or party favors, phial one. If you are planning a wedding and need items specifically for that, phial two. If you're that nice Viking, I hope the red-haired lass is there to help you with phial three."

"Oh," Merida grabbed the third phial and tossed it into the cauldron.

"Hello Mr. Viking, and uh, hello, to the one I hope is the princess. Anyway, Mr. Viking, I didn't get to tell you about the rest of spell, you left pretty quickly upon hearing the pretty princess call your name," she cackled.

"What? That isn't why . . ."

"Hiccup," Merida stared at him.

"OK, OK, I'll be quiet. But how does she do that?" Merida glared at him.

"Anyway, as I"m sure the princess noticed, you have the ability to talk, the first one to try my new potion." Hiccup opened his mouth to protest, but then glanced at Merida and thought better of it. "Which means the rules are a little different, as long as you stay away from your home you will be able to speak. But the morning after you set foot on your home soil, you will cease to speak, and the bear will begin to set in."

"Oh no."

"After that, you have until the second sunrise to undo the spell, or you will become a bear forever. Now to undo the spell, you must remember these words, to become a human requires a selfless act, be yourself and make the pact. I will repeat that, so listen very carefully and remember them. To become a human requires a selfless act, be yourself and make the pact. Again, you have until the second sunrise after you reach your home to change back. Good luck, I'm sure the princess will give you all the help you'll need. Bye bye!"

"No wait! That - that can't be it!"

Merida sighed, "I'm afraid it was, Hiccup, come on, we can figure what she means on the way back."

"But . . . can't we try the other phials?"

"No, I don't want to come back and rebuild the house again, so let's go. We have what we came here for. The second morning after you return to Berk is your last day being Hiccup, and I guess you have to make a pact and do a selfless act before then to return to your human form."

"Right, the - the pact! I have to make the pact between Berk and the Scot happen!"

"Exactly! And you just have to be yourself! See, we can do this!"

"Right, and since I can still talk until I get back home, I can still make the pact! This should be easy! Come on!"


	4. Bear Clan

"This isn't going to be easy, is it?" grumbled Hiccup. The two had returned to find Elinor trying to calm the clans down while the triplets were awake and distracting Toothless with a game and fish.

"You have to remember, we are Scots, we are different from Vikings. Family is important to us."

"It's important to us Vikings as well. What we need is a way to incorporate each other into our families. Dragons were supposed to be that link, but I guess it's not enough."

"Hmm . . . maybe a link in our history?"

"But I don't know what would work."

"Stay out of sight, I'll talk to them for a bit. Maybe they'll say something that will help."

Hiccup nodded, "Alright, we'll try it." Merida moved out into the midst of the chaos while Hiccup only moved close enough to hear, staying well out of sight. Everyone seemed to quiet down when Merida made her way to where her parents sat. The questions came once she turned around to face the clans.

"Where's the Viking, Merida?"

"Is he going to attack us now with his new form?"

"Will that dragon attack us if it thinks we turned his master into a bear?"

"I had Hiccup hide until you calmed down enough for him to talk to you, civilly. He and his dragon will not harm us unless provoked, so, to prevent unnecessary bloodshed, why don't you let him speak?"

"We've had enough talk, we want some action!"

"We know that he said he'll start a dragon school and he wants to bring his friends here to teach us. We might be able to trust Hiccup, but what about the rest of Berk? They're all Vikings! Who's to say that one of them won't attack us?" Hiccup couldn't stand it, he had to speak, he had to make at least them understand.

"Because I am the chief of Berk! A chief protects his own. By becoming my allies, you become a part of that, meaning you will have my protection just like I will look to you for aid when Berk is in need." They moved aside to let his furry body saunter to where Merida stood. He turned to stand beside her. He glanced at the clans, sadness creasing his brow. "What will it take for you to see, for you to understand that I am speaking the truth? Have we not agreed on the dragon school? How can I get that started if you will not trust the people I need to leave here to instruct you?"

"Hiccup, you will need to return to Berk to gather the dragons to bring here, right?"

"Uh, yes." He glanced at Merida, they were going to need to tell them about the witch's message.

"Why don't we let a few Scots go with you so they can experience the culture of Berk firsthand and get a better understanding of how you work with the dragons. Not to mention we can't let you go to Berk alone like this."

"Um, Mom? There's another reason why we can't let him go to Berk alone like this." Elinor glanced at Merida and then at Hiccup, a bit of worry creeping into her features.

"Why is that?" Merida quickly explained why, telling them everything they had learned while at the witch's cottage. There were gasps and murmurs of surprise when she was finished. "Oh my, my lords we most certainly have to help him now. This is a problem we have dealt with before, Hiccup's people will need our help all the more since they have never dealt with this. Will we rob a people of their chief when they have done nothing but extend a hand of friendship? This is a chance for us, they are willing to share with us their information about dragons, and now we have information that they need to save their chief. It's not much, but it's something to start off with, something that should give them a good idea of what our hearts are made of. So, can we have a few volunteers to send with him home?"

"I volunteer! And I should go since I was there for the witch's message." Elinor looked like she about to veto it, but then slowly nodded her head.

"Very well, Merida, we have one volunteer! Will anyone else volunteer?"

"Us!" shouted three voices as they bounded into the room, followed by Toothless. Hiccup gulped, he hadn't been sure about how Toothless would react to Hiccup's new form, but it wouldn't be long before he found out as the dragon homed in on his location.

"I don't know . . ."

"But Mom, we don't get to do anything!"

"We already know how to work with dragons!"

"We can help keep Toothless company!" At that moment, Toothless found Hiccup.

"H-hey buddy." Toothless glanced at him in surprise, then sniffed him. It sounded like Hiccup, it smelled like Hiccup, it just didn't look like him. Toothless was thoroughly confused. "Yeah buddy, it's me. I don't like this look either, but these guys are going to help me get back to my old self, OK?" He tried to pet Toothless, but the dragon quickly backed up, those claws weren't exactly inviting. But when Hiccup made no other moves besides his face looking sadder, Toothless moved closer and touched his nose to the paw. Hiccup slowly petted him, not wanting to hurt him with his claws. Toothless looked into Hiccup's eyes. "Hey buddy," Hiccup whispered. "Sorry, buddy, I can't ride you home, someone else is going to have to do it, but we'll stay close, alright?" Toothless merely nuzzled him.

"So, are my children the only ones unafraid of accompanying these two home?" The clans glanced at each other nervously, apparently they were. Elinor sighed, "Very well. Hiccup, if you don't mind, could you stay another day just so we can prepare for their departure? It will also give time for anyone to change their minds."

"Yeah, sure, just one more day."

"Good, it's been a long day, and night, I suggest we all go to sleep, we'll have another long day tomorrow." Everyone grumbled in agreement and shuffled off to bed. Hiccup found himself on the floor again, with Toothless draping his wing over him.

Everyone slept in until noon, but once they were up, activities resumed and the planning for the departure was tackled with enthusiasm. Hiccup could do nothing but sit back and watch the proceedings and give information as to what would be needed. By night, everything was set, even people's minds, apparently. Merida and her brothers had spent time with Hiccup and Toothless, mainly learning on how to control the contraption to keep Toothless in the air, though Merida did try shooting her bow a few times. The four clan leaders also spent a lot of time with Hiccup and Toothless, more on coming to an agreement on a pact than learning about dragons, though that was touched upon when Toothless wasn't busy playing around with his new friends. As they continued to talk, Hiccup began to hope that the pact wasn't far from actually happening. He certainly knew the DunBrochs were on board with everything, he just had to nudge the other three clans into agreeing as well, his chances of succeeding increasing with every minute. That night, he seemed to sleep better than he had in weeks, some of the worry disappearing from his eyes. When morning came, the clans seemed ready to make a pact.

"See, Hiccup? You did it! 'Be yourself and make the pact!' You're halfway there!" exclaimed Merida when the chiefs finished their meeting.

Hiccup grinned, "I know! I guess the selfless act will just have to come on our journey. I might become a human before we get to Berk!"

Merida chuckled, "It's quite possible. We'd better get going so it can happen!"

"Right!" The two of them joined the the rest of the going-away party. As the group situated themselves, the triplets on Hiccup and Merida on Toothless, there were well-wishes and final instructions being uttered into the air, Elinor and Fergus going last.

"You stay together, and keep each other safe," said Elinor as she hugged Merida.

"We will, Mom."

"You boys behave for Merida and Hiccup, or your mother and I won't let you go anywhere for the next few years, understand?"

"Yes dad," sighed the triplets before being engulfed in a bear hug by their father. Fergus took a few steps back and was soon joined by Elinor, the two waving as the group took off on their northern journey.

That evening, a guard came panting into the throne room, a look of surprise written on his face.

"My lord, my lady, th-the ambassador!" Fergus and Elinor looked up sharply as the clans turned around, murmuring in surprise.

"What ambassador? Were we expecting another one, Elinor?"

Elinor shook her head, "No, just the one."

"Well show him in anyway, maybe we can speak to him on behalf of Hiccup as well."

Elinor smiled, "A good idea, my dear." The guard bowed and stepped out for a bit before returning with a brown-haired young man, apparently the same age as Hiccup.

"My lords, my lady, may I present to you King Taran of Prydain!" The clans gasped as Taran bowed.

"I assume you received my letter?"

"That a brown-haired ambassador who is the chief of his land would be arriving in two weeks?"

"Oh no, I didn't write chief, I wrote king. I thought you had received it, I had sent a bard with it."

"I knew it! That Viking couldn't be trusted!" Elinor and Fergus glanced at each other, now what were they going to do?


	5. Journey North

The group traveled quickly for the first three days, taking very little time for breaks before nightfall. Hiccup wanted to time it perfectly, getting to Berk after sunrise, so he could have some time to talk to his people and explain as much of the situation as he could before leaving it to Merida, Astrid, and his mother. Hiccup and Toothless switched riders only a few times, Hiccup usually ending up with Merida and Toothless with the triplets. This gave Hiccup time to instruct Merida on what she would need to do if he couldn't return to human form before he stopped talking. They knew they were getting close on their fifth day out as the weather grew snowy, and the rivers were icy, if not completely frozen.

"Alright, we have maybe another three days before reaching Berk. We'll keep traveling as we have before for the next two days. On the third day, Toothless will go ahead with Merida to see how far out we are from Berk, and we'll adjust our speed to get there on the fourth or fifth day after sunrise. Any questions?"

"Yeah, you thought much about how you're going to explain why you accepted the spell from the witch?"

Hiccup winced, "No, not really besides saying that I didn't know what it would do."

Merida groaned, "Hiccup, you're going to have to tell them the truth. Maybe your clan can help you with being more like your dad while being you. Besides, that's part of undoing the spell, remember? To become a human requires a selfless act, be yourself and make the pact."

"Yeah, I know, I really am trying, you know? There's only so much a bear can do."

"But there's still a lot that Hiccup can say, right?"

Hiccup started to smile, "Yeah, there is. It's just, for the longest time I didn't want to be my dad, and now that he's gone, I find myself wishing I could be more like him."

Merida laughed, "About that, you probably have more similarities with him than you realize. I found that out when my mom was a bear, I have more in common with her than I realized, or wanted to believe. And you know, that's because she was my mom and I spent a lot of time with her, she taught me everything I know, well, almost everything. There's a lot my dad taught me too, but that's mainly with swords and bows than literature and sewing." The two chuckled, then glanced at Toothless and the triplets. Toothless had draped his wing around the sleeping boys, keeping them warm, while paying attention to Merida's and Hiccup's conversation.

Hiccup turned back to Merida, "Well I guess you would know, you got your mom back after almost losing her."

"Yeah, I can't imagine how hard it must be for you to lose your dad. I might have gotten close when I nearly lost my mom, but like you said, I did get her back, so I can't be absolutely sure. But I do know this, because I did get my mom back, I have found that I am capable of doing many of the same things she has been doing for a long time. Though, I don't think that the two of us together could keep the peace for very long when there are Vikings around."

"I don't blame them, there are Viking clans who in fact raid a lot, and not just Celts, but other Vikings as well, and even Romans. There are those, and then there's those who are like us on Berk and want to have some peace, and some good friends to get drunk with," Hiccup chuckled.

Merida chuckled, "Yes, there is that too. Guess Scots and Vikings are more similar than we thought. Just like you and I are more like our parents than we thought."

Hiccup sighed, "Yeah, guess that's true too. We should get some sleep, we have another long day tomorrow."

"Right, well, goodnight."

"Goodnight." Hiccup rolled over and fell asleep, Toothless falling asleep not too long afterwards, but Merida stayed up a bit, watching the others sleep, and one in particular, before she too fell asleep.

They continued on, Hiccup bounding over frozen paths while Toothless took to the snowy skies, both eager to return home and to show their new friends what life was like on Berk and pair them with their own dragons. Finally the day came for Merida to ride Toothless to figure out how long until they reached Berk. They came back with a surprise, they were only a few hours out.

"Alright, we'll only go for a few more hours today, leave the rest for tomorrow. We'll get up late too, just to be on the safe side." The triplets cheered while Merida chuckled, they weren't quite used to the extremes of traveling, and once they each had a dragon, there would be no need for them to worry about that. Everything happened as Hiccup hoped it would, they left for the last hours of their journey after sunrise, Merida letting her brothers ride Toothless for the final lap while she rode on Hiccup's back. They arrived a couple of hours before lunch, surprising everyone with the strange assortment of characters entering their village, even more so when they realized Hiccup wasn't among the group even though Toothless was. They didn't try to harm the new-comers once Toothless let them know he knew them, but they did send them to the main hall, calling for Valka and Astrid. When the two women approached the group to find out what was going on, the biggest surprise of all came. Hiccup gave Merida a nudge and she nodded, they had practiced this before entering Berk, but she was still nervous about speaking to Hiccup's mother, and especially his girlfriend.

"Um, hello, Lady Valka, Astrid, I am Merida of the DunBroch clan, and these are my brothers, Hamish, Hubert, and Harris. We've come with a problem and a proposition . . ."

Valka held up her hand, "Before you continue, I see my son's dragon, but not my son. Where is he?"

"Ah, yes, that would be the problem."

"What? Is your clan holding Hiccup prisoner?" exclaimed Astrid.

"No . . ."

"Then what is the problem? Is he sick?"

"Uh . . . sort of." She glanced at Hiccup, he nodded, it was time to let them know. "Uh, we have a witch who's quite good at turning people into bears . . ."

Valka gasped as she glanced at the bear, "Hiccup?"

"Hi Mom, Astrid, yeah, it's me." They stared at the bear for several minutes before Valka glanced between Hiccup and Merida.

"Is there a way to reverse this?"

"Yes, but I don't have much time. I've already taken care of most of it, thankfully, there's just one last thing I need to do before I can return to being human."

"And what's that?"

"I have to perform a selfless act."

"What?"

Merida sighed, "The witch said that this was the only way to change him back. To become a human requires a selfless act, be yourself and make the pact. Hiccup has been himself and has made a pact between Berk and us Scots, my brothers and I are just a part of it as well as needing to make sure Hiccup is changed back."

"Oh, well that was nice of you," Astrid eyed Merida.

"There's one other thing." Everyone glanced at Hiccup. "Tomorrow morning, I won't be able to speak again, so everything that I need to say has to be said today."

"Why will you stop talking?"

"The witch said that the sunrise after my arrival at Berk I will stop talking, and two sunrises after that, I will be a bear forever."

"Oh Hiccup, why . . . how did this happen?"

"I . . . uh," he began, but before he finished he glanced at Merida. She gave him a nod, and gave him a 'go-on' signal with her hands. "I-I wished I could have been more like Dad," he finally whispered.

"Oh Hiccup, why did you even need to make such a wish?"

"Well, I, uh, wasn't getting along too well in getting the pact to happen. But with Merida's and her mom's help, I was able to do it. I mean, I guess even the witch helped me by changing me into a bear because they all seemed more willing to listen once they understood why I got changed."

"They didn't attack you?"

"No, this isn't the first time this has happened," explained Merida. Valka and Astrid glanced at her. "That's the reason why I came, I know how this all works because my mom got changed into a bear and I had to change her back."

"Ah, so you help my son return to his natural form in exchange for dragon lessons?"

"Kind of, but that was already part of the pact, Merida and her brothers were the only ones ready and willing to come, it would seem. The others weren't quite ready to trust a Viking, even though they did make a pact with me."

"Ah, so, you would want them to begin dragon lessons so you could oversee them?" Hiccup nodded.

Astrid sighed, "Alright, let's go get started on some dragon training." The triplets whooped and followed her eagerly out the door. Valka stayed back with Merida, Hiccup and Toothless.

"So, your clan was the only one willing to listen to my son?"

"Pretty much, we've been undergoing some changes in our traditions since my mom's transformation, the others aren't quite as up-to-date as we are, but they'll catch up. Hiccup really only needed my parents to agree to the pact, we're basically the head clan."

"I see." No more was said as they set about training the Scots in dragon lore. Word spreads fast in Berk, and before dinner, everyone knew about Hiccup's transformation. Snotlout was teasing him about it, the twins fought over which was better, Hiccup being a human or a bear, Fishlegs only said he would be willing to help Hiccup in any way and took up the task of teaching the triplets more about the dragons, finding them a willing audience, and Astrid didn't like Hiccup's change one bit. Hiccup found her distance hurting more than anything else, but when Astrid wasn't there, Merida was, and Hiccup began to realize just how much he had come to depend on her. As sunrise quickly approached, Hiccup began to wonder, with worry and dread, would his selfless act be about Merida?


	6. Vikings, Scots & Prydain

Sunrise came too soon for everyone as Hiccup began to lose his ability to speak bit by bit. Once the sun had fully risen in the morning sky, Hiccup could only grumble and growl like a bear, but thankfully he was still Hiccup. Merida was cautious though, explaining to him first and later everyone else, that the bear traits would start showing up pretty soon. But Hiccup managed to get through the day by concentrating on getting the Scots their own dragons. The triplets each got a changewing and a terrible terror, but Merida had none at all by the end of the day. Hiccup would have liked to have worked more on getting Merida a dragon, but everyone's thoughts turned to changing him back into a human as he now had one day left.

"What would be a good selfless act for him to do?"

"Hasn't he already been selfless?"

"Maybe the witch had something specific in mind."

"That, or someone does a selfless act for him." This and other such conversations echoed throughout Berk, each person trying to come up with a selfless act for Hiccup to do, or for someone to do for him. In the midst of it all, Hiccup was trying to keep from panicking, he was having short lapses during which he acted like a bear. To make matters worse, seven unknown Viking ships were sailing into their port, their leader sending a message asking to speak with Hiccup.

"Oh no, what should we tell them? Hiccup can't be seen like this!" whimpered Fishlegs.

"Maybe we should tell them that he's sick and can't be seen for a few days," muttered Astrid. She might not have liked what was going on with Hiccup, but he was still her friend.

"There's an idea, so when he changes into a bear we can say he died and that I'm in charge."

"Snotlout!"

"What? It could happen!"

Valka sighed, "Snotlout is right, we haven't been able to change him back into a human, this might be the best route for now. What do you think Hiccup?" The bear nodded sadly, Snotlout was right, if he didn't change back into a human by sunrise, he would be gone to them forever.

"What if we have the leader meet with Snotlout and Valka for now? Hiccup can watch from the sidelines and can help determine what's to be done. We'll still say that he's sick, of course," suggested Merida. Hiccup glanced at her, a bearish grin growing on his face, he liked that idea.

Valka noticed her son's face, "I think we shall do that then. Send a message to the boats, tell them that Hiccup is sick and unable to see anyone at the moment, but I, his mother, will see the leader in his place. Snotlout and Astrid may join me. Merida, if the leader does come, could you stay with Hiccup and help him with whatever he may need?" Everyone glanced at each other, they knew what she actually meant, but was being nice and not mentioning it.

"Yeah, sure."

"Thank you, let's get this done with." The message was sent and the preparations were underway in case the leader agreed to meet with Valka instead. It wasn't long before the reply came, in the person of the leader himself. Valka, Snotlout, and Astrid met him in the main hall, Merida and Hiccup hidden behind a tapestry. Hiccup gave a low growl, he knew who that was.

"Dagur!" exclaimed Snotlout and Astrid.

Dagur laughed his crazy laugh, "I see you remember me. So sorry to hear that your great chief isn't feeling well. I would have waited until he felt better, but I just couldn't wait to meet his mother. A pleasure, Lady Valka, to think you've been alive all this time and you are reunited with your family just in time for you to lose your husband, and Hiccup his father."

"Dagur! Be respectful to the memory of Stoick!" growled Astrid.

"Oh I am, don't worry, he was a great man, I admired him greatly. And his son, until I found out I was lied to about the dragons on Berk. But that was years ago. I have come today with a deal for Hiccup, it shouldn't be too hard for someone who's sick to make this choice. As you may have noticed, I have seven ships waiting outside of Berk, filled with armed men."

"What? You're going to attack Berk? Why you . . ."

"Oh no, I won't attack Berk, as long as your chief promises to give me all of the dragons, especially the Night Fury." Valka rose from her seat and stepped towards Dagur, a stern look on her face.

"What would you do with the dragons?"

"Train and ride them, of course."

"But why our dragons? Could you not have rescued other dragons to train?"

Dagur's face twisted before returning to his calm mask, "What other dragons are there? Your son has the only male Night Fury."

"Only male . . .? You have a female?"

"It's quite possible, I'm sure your son would want to save the Night Furies from dying out."

"Bring the female, I want to see her."

"Oh no, I'm not going to be double-crossed. You bring the dragons to my boats, and then you can see the female Night Fury."

"Are you treating her well?"

"Of course I am, what kind of a question is that, Astrid?"

"A question to see if you really have changed." Dagur and Astrid became locked in a staring contest. Snotlout cleared his throat, bringing them back to the issue at hand.

"So, um, why don't we talk to Hiccup real quick and we'll get back to you with his answer?"

"Yes, why don't you go do that?" Hiccup growled, they could have his answer right now. He burst out from behind the tapestry, Merida not far behind in an attempt to stop him. He rushed up towards Dagur, rose to his full height, and roared in his face. Dagur yelped and tried to back up from the raging bear, only to fall flat on his back.

"What's going on here? Are you training bears now too? And is that a Scot? Is she the bear trainer?" Hiccup glanced back at his mother and nodded.

Valka sighed, "This is no trained bear, this is Hiccup."

"An interesting illness."

"A witch turned him into a bear."

Dagur slowly rose to his feet, "I see, is it permanent? Oh don't worry about answering that, it doesn't matter, I can make it permanent by killing you." Hiccup growled, the two getting so close that their noses almost touched. "So, Hiccup, guess I'll take that as a no. Meet you on the battleground." With that, Dagur turned tail and cleared out. Hiccup gave a snort, there was no way he was going to let Dagur have any of the dragons, Toothless especially, even if Dagur did have a female Night Fury.

"Have Gobber prepare the armory and make sure that everyone is armed and ready, we are going to fight to protect our dragons." The people of Berk quickly made ready for war, but they weren't completely done when Dagur and his Vikings charged on the village. The triplets, Merida, and the other archers tried to give the rest of the village as much time as they could to get even a bit more of weaponry together, but Dagur was gaining ground fast and it wouldn't be long before he entered Berk. Hiccup took a group ready to fight and met Dagur at the front, even though his group was outnumbered ten to one. With the help of the archers, they were able to keep Dagur's army occupied until Gobber finally had everyone armed and primed to fight. The fight went on into the night, neither side giving way even though it did look like Dagur would win in the long run.

"What are we going to do? Dagur has too many men!" Hiccup glanced at Astrid, giving a slight shrug.

"We can't go on like this all night either."

"But there's no way we can spare anyone to let them rest!"

"Dagur will overrun us for sure. We should just give up the dragons so that we can get out of here in one piece."

"Do you think Dagur will just let us leave peacefully? He'll either enslave us or kill us, he knows we'll mount an attack to get our dragons back."

"I guess there's no hope then, either we die fighting or we die in chains."

"Well, it's a good thing we got here when we did then, eh?"

"Dad!" Merida rushed to her parents, the triplets right behind. The family had a big group hug before Fergus and the other chiefs and a brunette who looked to be the same age as Hiccup approached the war council. "What? Well aren't we your allies?"

"I don't think that's the question Hiccup has on his mind, dear. I think he's wondering how we got here so fast." Hiccup nodded slowly, too shocked to utter a sound.

Fergus laughed, "You can thank these doubting minds for that. When we realized that King Taran here was the one who sent us the message announcing his arrival instead of yours, they suggested we leave at once to find out once and for all if you really were being honest." The chiefs grumbled and muttered amongst themselves before giving something of an apology.

"But I don't think that now is a good time to be asking that question. The proper question right now is, where do you need help?" They quickly explained their situation to the newcomers, and the Scots hurled themselves giddily into battle. If there was one thing they could agree on, it was how to fight a Viking raid. Even King Taran and his companions entered into the fray, much to the dismay of Dagur's forces and to the relief of Berk. With the extra forces, victory seemed possible, but they were still struggling, and dawn was fast approaching. The battle stopped abruptly just as the sun peaked over the horizon, Dagur was down and two Night Furies were standing guard over two unconscious bodies.


	7. The Selfless Act

In the weeks that followed, Berk was rebuilt and its people recovered from the battle. Those who had died had their respective funerals and those who had been wounded were well taken care of. They were thankful for the commotion and being so busy, it kept their curious minds occupied until the only witnesses who could tell them what happened between Hiccup and Dagur were conscious. In the meantime, their mothers and the Night Furies kept a vigilant watch over their recovery. Merida was the first to wake up, soon revealing that she had taken Toothless to rescue the only dragon on Dagur's ship, the female Night Fury which she had named Morrigan, and had returned to find Dagur and Hiccup locked in battle.

"Toothless insisted upon helping Hiccup battle Dagur, though he probably had it taken care of. Morrigan and I helped Toothless fend some archers off, but I think they had orders from Dagur to kill only Hiccup, and we were keeping them occupied long enough for Hiccup to have a fair battle. One did manage to slip past our defenses and shoot at Hiccup. I don't know what I was thinking besides needing to save Hiccup, but, I-I jumped between Hiccup and the arrow."

"Merida! That was . . ."

"Foolish, I know, I know," sighed Merida.

"One of the bravest things you've ever done." Elinor smiled proudly at her daughter.

"Really?" Elinor nodded, and Merida hugged her, "Thanks Mom. Anyway, Morrigan took out that archer before he could take another shot, and suddenly Dagur was there. He began talking to Morrigan, trying to get her to leave me so he could finish me off, but I don't think Morrigan liked being in that cage since she refused to budge. Thankfully Hiccup engaged him before he could come up with a plan to move Morrigan away from me."

"Wait, wasn't Hiccup already fighting Dagur?"

"Uh, yeah."

"So why did he have to re-engage him?"

Elinor gasped, "Hiccup was changing back into a human." Merida nodded and grinned as her audience gasped.

"Why didn't you say that before?"

Merida laughed, "I was coming to that since Toothless was so happy at Hiccup being back to normal that he knocked over Dagur just so he could lick him!" Everyone laughed.

"What happened next?"

"Well, Hiccup and Dagur got locked into battle again, their blades ringing against the sounds of battle. More archers appeared out of the mist, the Night Furies sent as many of them as they could back into the mist, I tried to help as much as I could, but being hurt made it difficult. The next thing I know, Hiccup had returned to me, wanting to take care of my wound before it got too bad. I asked him about Dagur, Hiccup had disarmed him and sent him running." A lot of chuckles erupted at that statement. "But, Dagur wasn't done. He went and grabbed a bow from one of his archers, aimed it at Hiccup, and shot him." Merida paused as her audience gasped, it was all in the past now, but thinking about it still hurt for some reason. "And then, the both of us lost consciousness, where you found us. Was Morrigan really furiously protecting me?" she glanced at Snotlout when she asked the question.

"Well yeah, Toothless had to move her just so your mom could tend to your wounds." The others nodded, adding bits of Morrigan's actions, but Merida wasn't paying much attention. She had noticed movement outside and her heart skipped a beat. Could it be?

"Well, that's great and all, but I feel like stretching my legs and checking on Morrigan. After everything she's done for me, it's the least I can do."

"Letting her out of her cage was plenty," remarked Astrid as she rose to help Elinor usher everyone out.

"You think so?" asked Merida as she followed Astrid out of the hut.

"I know so, dragons like their freedom, cages aren't their thing."

"I don't blame them, it gets cramped."

Astrid laughed, "Exactly, you see? Letting her out of that cage has won you her trust and her undying friendship. She couldn't have made a better choice."

"Thanks Astrid, I'm going to take a stroll around the center before checking up on Morrigan."

"Think you'll be alright?"

"Yeah, I just need a stretch, get my legs moving again."

Astrid nodded, "Alright, see you at the Dragon Academy!" Merida waved back at Astrid before the two separated. Merida went around the village a few times, politely responding to inquiries about her health, before stopping at her destination. She watched the activity in the smithy for a few minutes, stepping in only when she caught a glimpse of a brown-haired lad. Hoping it was the one she was thinking of, she followed him further into the smithy, pausing at the door frame leading into the saddle area. She glanced down at his feet and smiled, it was him.

"So, no visits, nothing? Not even sending someone else in to see how I'm doing?"

"Ah! Merida! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Oh? Why not? I think I shall do it more often, it's fun," she grinned.

"Are you sure telling me is a good idea? Because now I'll just expect it and I won't be surprised anymore," replied Hiccup, crossing his arms.

"That's fine, because this was payback for not checking in on me. Have you been here this whole time?"

"Y-yes, I asked Astrid about you when I could, but, I-I . . . I wanted to take my mind off of what happened. I-I couldn't stand seeing you like that." Hiccup went back to the saddle he had started on, letting the silence settle like a fog.

"I didn't like watching Dagur shoot you," Merida finally whispered. Hiccup paused, turned, and pulled her into a hug. She breathed in the smells of smoke, leather, and dragon, her hand feeling the rapid beating of his heart, he was alive, that was all that mattered.

She glanced up at him, "But what about you and Astrid?"

He shrugged, "Guess that ship sailed a while ago."

"Hey Hiccup! How's that saddle coming? That Scottish princess better not be distracting you!"

Hiccup quickly let go and went back to working on the saddle, "No she's not, and it'll be done soon!"

"Good, don't want to keep King Taran waiting! He needs it by tonight!"

"Thank you Gobber!"

"No problem!" Hiccup groaned and rolled his eyes while Merida snorted.

She cleared her throat, "Need some help?"

"If you want to."

"Why does it need to be done by tonight?"

"We're making the pact official tonight, between Berk, Scotland, and Prydain," grinned Hiccup. Merida whooped and kissed him. Hiccup pulled back, stunned by the motion, but quickly went back in for another.

"Hiccup! We have a deadline!"

Hiccup moaned, "I know, Gobber! It will be done by tonight!" Merida snickered, pausing when they heard a snort from outside the window.

"Toothless!"

"Morrigan!" They rushed forward to pet their dragons.

"Why did you name her Morrigan?"

"Morrigan is the dark goddess of battle and death, a good name for a Night Fury, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"A lot better than the names you come up with."

"What? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Toothless? Hiccup? Don't you have any imagination?"

"Hey, those are good, simple names."

"Oh?" Merida hiccuped before bursting out laughing.

"Ha ha, very funny. Toothless, knock it out!"

"Ya know, the two of ya could have just said ya wanted to try out the princess' saddle, I can finish up King Taran's saddle."

"G-Gobber!"

Merida gasped, "You made me a saddle? Where is it?" Gobber tossed a saddle onto the floor.

Merida gasped as she picked it up, "Why it even has places for arrows and a bow! You think of everything!" She promptly planted a kiss on Hiccup's cheek before dashing out of the smithy to try it on Morrigan.

"Well, what are ya waiting for? Go on!" Gobber shooed him out, then settled down to finish King Taran's saddle.

"Wait, Merida, hold up!" Hiccup quickly joined her and helped her place the saddle on Morrigan. The two took off into the sky, leaving their worries far below, just enjoying the moment. Later that evening, there was much celebration, the pact was finalized. Valka hugged her son.

"You did it, Hiccup, you've brought them all together. Your father would be proud."

"Thanks, Mom, these guys are easier to handle than Drago." Valka smiled knowingly at her son before relinquishing her spot to Merida.

"Well you've done, you won't be seeing the last of the Scots."

Hiccup laughed, "The Scots are a better sight than some Viking tribes."

"I'll take your word on that, though you might be eating those words." She pointed at the scene unraveling before them. The Scots had started a brawl, and several of the Vikings had joined in on it.

Hiccup sighed, "Well, this is just the beginning, it'll take a while before the changes finally set in."

Merida chuckled, "Yeah, just the beginning, of something good." She smiled at him as her fingers intertwined with his. He smiled back and kissed her, then glanced at the continuing brawl.

"Uh, any ideas on how to get them to stop?"

"Stories usually do. Come on, I'm sure we all have amazing adventures to share." She pulled him into the midst of the fight, and began telling a story.


End file.
